Women’s Volleyball Travels to UC Riverside, Cal State Fullerton

Friday, November 9

Riverside, Calif.

7:00 PM

Long Beach State University

UC Riverside

Photo by: John Fajardo

Women’s Volleyball Travels to UC Riverside, Cal State Fullerton

11/8/2018 10:18:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

The Beach play a pair of road matches on Friday and Saturday

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Match #27
Long Beach State at UC Riverside
Date: Friday, Nov. 9
Time: 7 p.m.
Arena: SRC Arena
Location: Riverside, Calif.
Live Stats: GoHighlanders.com
Listen: 22WestMedia.com
Watch: BigWest.TV
Twitter: @LBSU_WVB

Match #28
Long Beach State at Cal State Fullerton
Date: Saturday, Nov. 10
Time: 7 p.m.
Arena: Titan Gym
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Listen: 22WestMedia.com
Watch: BigWest.TV
Twitter: @LBSU_WVB

Complete LBSU Notes (PDF)

Women's Volleyball Travels to UC Riverside, Cal State Fullerton
The Long Beach State women's volleyball team will play a pair of road matches this week as the Beach travel to UC Riverside on Friday, Nov. 9 then take on Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, Nov. 10. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m.

About The Beach
• Long Beach State is looking to snap a four-match losing skid after dropping matches to then-No. 12 Cal Poly (3-1), UC Davis (3-1), UC Irvine (3-1), and Hawaii (3-1).
• The Beach are now 13-13 overall and 5-8 in the Big West.
• Long Beach State leads the league in blocks per set with 2.33, which puts the Beach 71st in the nation. LBSU is strong at the net as Emma Kirst (1.08 blocks per set) and YiZhi Xue (1.01 blocks per set) are ranked in the top 10 in the league.
• Senior Tyler Spriggs leads the Beach offensively with 2.80 kills per set which ranks her in the top 10 in the Big West.
• Carly Aigner-Swesey and Mina Andjelkovic split setter duties. Aigner-Swesey averages 8.06 assists per set, while Andjelkovic averages 5.05.
• Defensively, freshman libero Carly Hill leads the way with 3.41 digs per set, while junior Hailey Harward is right behind her with 3.12 digs per set.
• Harward is also the team's leader in service aces as she has racked up 37 on the year for an average of 0.37 per set. Her 37 aces rank her 45th in the nation.

Getting Social
Follow Long Beach State women's volleyball on Twitter at @LBSU_WVB and on Instagram at @LBSU_womensvb. You can also stay up-to-date on all things Long Beach State by following @LBSUAthletics on Twitter. Be sure to "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram at @LBSU. And don't forget our hashtags #GoBeach and #LBNation.

Scouting the Highlanders
• UC Riverside comes into the match against Long Beach State with an 8-16 overall record. The Highlanders are 3-9 in Big West Conference action.
• The Highlanders went 1-1 last week as they defeated UC Irvine in five sets before suffering a sweep against UC Davis.
• UCR's leading scorer is Ahuna Kaiulani who averages 5.07 kills per set on .206 hitting. Kaiulani also adds 2.86 digs per set.
• At setter, Chelsea Doyle has dished out 9.27 assists per set , while aso contributing 3.28 digs per set.
• Nicole Rodriguez paces the defense with 4.00 digs per set., UshakovaYuliya leads the team with 0.70 blocks per set.

Series vs. UC Riverside
Long Beach State and UC Riverside will meet for the 52nd time in program history. The Beach lead the all-time series 47-4 and have won the last 14 meetings. Earlier this season, Long Beach State swept the UCR at the Walter Pyramid on Sept. 18.

Scouting the Titans
• Cal State Fullerton is looking to snap an 18-match losing streak which dates back to Sept. 7.
• The Titans are 6-19 on the year and 0-12 in Big West Conference play.
• Madeline Schneider is the Titans' leading scorer as she averages 3.23 kills per set. SHe also adds 1.25 digs per set and 18 total blocks.
• The Titans utilize multiple setters in Courtney Mueller (5.49 assists per set), Nastassja Bowman (4.08 assists per set), and Makenzi Abelman (3.31 assists per set).
• Defensively, Cal State Fullerton is paced by Savahna Costello's 3.41 digs per set, and Haley Carmo's 0.77 blocks per set at the net.

Series vs. Cal State Fullerton
Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton will go head-to-head for the 99th time in program history. The Beach lead the all-time series 93-5. Long Beach State has won the last 12 meetings against the Titans as Cal State Fullerton has no defeated the Beach since 2012. Earlier this season, LBSU earned a 3-0 sweep over Cal State Fullerton at the Pyramid.

A Grand Time
On October 19 against UC Santa Barbara, junior Hailey Harward collected a season-high 24 digs and surpassed the 1,000-career dig milestone. The product out of Phoenix, Ariz., led the Long Beach State defense as she paced the back row. Harward has been solid on both sides of the ball beginning her career at LBSU as a defensive specialist and libero, then transitioning into an outside hitter role a year ago.

Leader of the Pack
Long Beach State has been solid on blocking defense this season as the Beach have posted 240.0 blocks this season for an average of 2.33 blocks per set. LBSU's blocks per set average is tops in the Big West Conference and is good for 71st in the nation.

Block Party
With the Beach leading the league in blocks per set, it comes as no surprise that Long Beach State has two players in the top 10 in the conference in blocks per set. Redshirt senior Emma Kirst is third in the league with 1.08 blocks per set, while junior YiZhi Xue is sixth with 1.01 blocks per set.

Youth Movement
With seven freshmen on the roster Long Beach State has seen several rookies step up and perform this season. Kashauna Williams is second on the team in scoring with 2.57 kills per set, while Carly Aigner-Swesey has paced the offense with 8.06 assists per set. Defensively, Carly Hill leads the back row with 3.41 digs per set as the team's libero. Allison Martinez and Dylan Dela Cruz have come off the bench and produced for the Beach as Martinez's .281 attack percentage is second on the squad and Dela Cruz contributes 1.70 digs per set and 0.81 assists per set.

Aces Wild
Junior Hailey Harward has been on fire from the service line all season. Harward has racked up a team-leading 37 aces thus far for an average of 0.37 which ranks her third in the league. Additionally, her total aces rank her in the top 50 in the nation. Earlier this season, Harward racked up a career-high seven aces in Long Beach State's five-set win over Texas Tech. Her seven aces tie her for third in the LBSU single-game record book.

Big West Freshmen of the Week
Long Beach State has boasted a pair of Big West Conference Freshmen of the Week in Allison Martinez and Kashauna Williams.

Martinez picked up in honors in September after finishing the week with 18 kills, five blocks, and three digs, while hitting .577 (18-3-26). She had a breakout performance against Fresno State as she hit an impressive .733 after knocking down 12 kills on 15 swings with just one attack error.

Williams was named Big West Freshman of the Week in October after posting an all-around solid performance with 2.58 kills, 083 digs, and 0.75 blocks per set. She recorded a pair of double-figure kill efforts in two of three of the Beach's contests and tied her season-high with 15 kills against UC Santa Barbara.

Up Next
Long Beach State will celebrate its four seniors in Gigi Alex, Emma Kirst, Megan Kruidhof, and Tyler Spriggs during the final home match of the season on Saturday, Nov. 17 when the Beach host CSUN at 7 p.m.